by Karis Walsh
“I technically yelled it at him when I was in his office this week. It was humiliating. I’ve never lost control like that during my entire career as a minion…I mean, consultant.”
“And he didn’t fire you?”
“No, he said he wanted me to take care of you, even if I did it my way and not his.”
Kassidy nodded slowly. “Give him his money back.” She walked over to the sink and put the cilantro in a colander to rinse it.
Paige felt a strange sense of panic rise in her. She didn’t want to leave. “Don’t refuse my help just because you’re mad at him, Kassidy. I want to be here, and I think we can do—”
Kassidy held up her hand to stop Paige. “I’m not asking you to go, but I’m doing what I should have done at the beginning of this. I’ll pay you to help with my farm. That way no one”—she pointed at the twins—“will think Dad has any influence over the decisions we make together. Plus, I can fire you if you annoy me too much. All right?”
Paige grinned. She’d have offered to finish the work here for free, just as she’d been prepared to do after her outburst with Kenneth, but she knew this arrangement would be best for all of them. “I’ll send him a refund Monday.”
“Are we all right now?” Kassidy aimed this question at the twins, using a voice Paige could only describe as parental. When they nodded, she snapped her fingers at them. “Good. Now go set the dining room table.”
“They’re a little scary,” Paige said once they had left the kitchen.
Kassidy laughed as she filled a bowl with cilantro and set it on a tray with the platter of meat. “Would you believe they got kicked out of their first daycare place because they were freaking out the other kids? Speaking in unison, that sort of thing.”
Paige could absolutely believe it. She walked over to Kassidy and took the tray from her. “I like our new arrangement. I have to warn you, though, I’m an expensive minion.”
“I know. I saw the prices on your website. I was kind of hoping I could pay you in lavender wands instead of cash.”
Paige laughed and nudged Kassidy gently with the edge of the tray. “Only if they’re ones you’ve made and not the DIY version. I don’t think ribbon weaving is one of my true talents.”
Chapter Fourteen
“I still don’t understand why you invited her,” Kassidy complained, her voice muffled as she pulled a pale yellow cashmere sweater over her head. She tugged the hem down and smoothed it over her jeans-clad hips. “I don’t see the two of you often enough as it is, and I would have liked some private family time.”
“Oh, please,” Kayla said with a snort of derision. She was sprawled in Kassidy’s bed with Kipper purring on her stomach. “Last time we were here you kept leaving brochures around the house for vacation places. In other states.”
“You stayed for two weeks,” Kassidy teased. They both knew her hints at getting the twins to take a trip hadn’t been serious. She would let them live with her full time if she could. Maybe not in her house, but at least in the same town. She ran a brush through her hair and grabbed her keys and wallet from the top of the dresser. “And neither one of you seems to know how to push a vacuum.”
“We were here because we love our sister and wanted to spend quality time with her.”
Kassidy mimicked Kayla’s snort. “You were here because you’re both too cheap to go on a real holiday and pay for a hotel and food.”
Kayla shrugged, not bothering to deny Kassidy’s claim. “Well, we like Paige. She’s funny and she has a great dog. It’ll be nice to have her come with us today.”
Kassidy had no doubt the twins liked Dante, but she was less convinced that they adored Paige enough to want to spend an entire day with her. She was sure they were still in protective mode and wanted to run interference in case she tried to bully Kassidy into giving up her farm. The four of them had managed to have a civil dinner the night before, mainly because Kassidy had steered them toward safe subjects like animals and the twins’ jobs with an exhausting tenacity.
“I just wish you had asked me first.” There. Kassidy had put up her token resistance to having Paige join them for a day of wine tasting. Now she could let herself enjoy Paige’s company without worrying about crossing any professional lines. She had second-guessed her decision to invite Paige to dinner last night because she had been afraid of letting their professional relationship get entangled with her personal feelings. Today, the full responsibility for Paige’s presence was on Kyle and Kayla. What could be less romantic than having the twins as chaperones?
Kyle was putting the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher when Kassidy and her sister came out of the bedroom. Kayla had cooked for them this morning, and now Kyle was cleaning. Kassidy shook her head. She must have been more noticeably upset lately about her dad and his intrusion into her farm than she had realized. The twins’ defensive mode extended to household chores when they thought she needed to be protected and cared for. It wasn’t consistent, but she appreciated the effort because she knew it was something they did just for her. She had seen their messy apartments and fridges packed with take-out containers. Cooking and cleaning were the ways they showed their love for her, just as she had done when they were children, and not things they did for themselves.
“Have you picked a winery yet?” Kassidy asked as they piled into Kayla’s SUV. “Drew and Jessica have some wonderful wines this year.”
“You taste their wines all the time,” Kyle said from the seat behind her. “We’re going to do something different today.”
“Did Paige tell you to say that?” Kassidy sighed. What was wrong with letting things remain the same? Her favorite winery, her best friends, her private farm. Those were good and comfortable and didn’t need to be replaced by new wineries and annoying tourists. “Just make sure it’s not Alexandra’s. Jessica would never forgive me, unless I’m going as a spy to report back to her.”
* * *
“I’ve heard this place does wonderful picnic lunches,” Kassidy said when they pulled up in front of the inn where Paige was staying. “We could just do a tasting here.”
The twins ignored her suggestion and Kayla rolled down her window when Paige came out of the front door with Dante. She looked gorgeous in a black turtleneck and dark blue jeans, and Kassidy’s remaining doubts about having Paige spend the day with her and her family vanished. She would give herself a day off being in control—just one day—and let the twins pick the activities. And let Paige’s humor and lightness spread to her.
“Hey,” Paige called. “Just give me a sec to put him in the dog run.”
“You can bring him with us,” Kayla said, waving toward the back of her SUV. “He’ll love where we’re going.”
Kyle got out to open the rear door for her, and then he and Paige got in the middle seats.
“Are you sure?” Paige asked, peering into the back where Dante was snuffling around. “He can be a little destructive.”
Kassidy laughed at the understatement of the day, and Kayla playfully punched her in the leg.
“Of course, we’re sure,” Kayla said. “I’ve had lots of animals in here, so don’t worry. He can’t hurt anything back there.”
Paige leaned forward and tugged on a lock of Kassidy’s hair. “Hi,” she said quietly. “You look happy.”
“I am,” Kassidy said. “Because it’s not my car that’s about to be destroyed.”
Paige laughed and squeezed Kassidy’s shoulder before she sat back. “Darn. I thought you were just glad to see me.”
Kassidy stared straight ahead and ignored the laser-like stares she could feel coming from both twins, not wanting to let them know that Paige was right and she was the reason for Kassidy’s smile. Paige didn’t seem to be as immune to their glares as Kassidy was.
“Yikes,” she yelped from the back seat. “You two need to audition for the next Stephen King movie. So where are we going today? A creepy mansion? Haunted cemetery?”
“No need to be scared o
f us unless you have a guilty conscience,” Kyle said. “We’re doing the Diamond.”
Kassidy let out her breath. She had been prepared to be annoyed by whatever choice the twins made, for no reason other than her penchant for staying in her comfort zone, and she realized she didn’t like that tendency in herself. Wanting to build a comfortable and fairly predictable life was fine. Being afraid to try new experiences was not. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” she admitted.
“We should stay dry, at least,” Kayla said. “It’s not supposed to rain today.”
“What’s the Diamond?” Paige asked, still sounding wary.
Kassidy turned in her seat to face her, grinning at her skeptical expression. “It’s a group of four wineries. They have bikes you can rent to do a circuit of about two miles to visit all four of them, and you can start at whichever one you want.”
“So you keep tasting until you fall off your bike?”
“You three do,” Kyle said. “I’m not drinking, so I can drive us home.”
“Besides, they keep the samples really small since they know people will be biking,” Kassidy added. “I don’t remember the last time I was on a bike, so I might fall over even without the help of wine. Although I won’t be the one trying to pedal while holding on to Dante, so at least I won’t look as foolish as that person.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll be walking instead of biking,” Paige said.
“He’ll be great,” Kayla said with as much misguided optimism as she had shown when Dante got in the back of her car. “The bike paths aren’t on the main roads, so there isn’t any car traffic. Plus, we’ll be stopping a few times at the wineries, so he won’t get tired.”
Kassidy shrugged at Paige. “Good luck.”
Kayla parked in the lot of the first winery, and the twins went inside to rent the bikes and order a picnic lunch for when they had completed the circuit. Kassidy held Dante while Paige made sure the back of the SUV was still in decent shape.
“It looks okay, I guess,” Paige said, climbing out again. She took Dante’s leash from Kassidy and leaned against the side of the car next to her, so their shoulders were nearly touching. “There are a couple of chewed areas, but I’m pretty sure they were like that before he got in. You should join with some other farms and do something like this Diamond. It’s a great idea, and you can just change the shape.”
Kassidy shifted until she was facing Paige, breathing in the piney scent of her that called to mind a morning stroll along a dewy forest path. Preferably after a night of chocolate-licking in front of a lavender fire. Kassidy exhaled quietly. When Paige looked like this, with darkened eyes and wind-tousled hair, Kassidy was in danger of agreeing to anything she suggested, whether it had to do with her farm or with the two of them together. At least she wasn’t foolish enough to give Paige that information, or the next thing she knew the Wilsons would be moving into her spare room. “What did you have in mind? An Herb Octagon?”
“Perfume Pentagon?” Paige suggested, ducking playfully as if she thought Kassidy might punch her.
“I’ll be sure to serve lavender chicken in the picnic lunches,” Kassidy said, trying to sound mocking and dismissive of the idea even as she mentally mapped out the farms nearest hers. There were four within easy walking distance of her place, and each could contribute something made with their produce or herbs for the lunch boxes. The thought of all those tourists sprawled on her fields eating lunches made her cringe, though. Maybe she could confine them to the driveway?
“God, you’re not going to start kissing, are you?” Kassidy and Paige simultaneously jumped away from each other at the sound of Kayla’s voice. “I don’t want to lose my appetite for lunch.”
“We’re talking about the farm,” Kassidy said, although she figured the twins could easily guess the real reason for her flushed cheeks. “We have to whisper because other lavender farmers might be trying to overhear our plans.”
“You never know which of these flowers has been genetically modified with a recording device inside,” Paige said, peering into one of the pink-and-white daylilies bordering the parking lot.
Kassidy laughed, ignoring the twins’ confused expressions. “I’ll bet those ornamental grasses are really clusters of antennae. Herb farmers will stop at nothing to steal trade secrets. We’re a competitive bunch.”
The twins rolled their eyes with mirror-image dismissive expressions and headed toward a rack full of mountain bikes.
“It’s eerie,” Paige said with a playful shiver. “They move as one.”
“They speak the same way, too, although not as often as they used to,” Kassidy said as they followed the twins. “They were in a perpetual state of jinx from ages four to seven.”
Kassidy picked the first bike that looked tall enough for her, while Paige spent some time looking over each one before making her choice. The twins rode on ahead, shouting challenges about racing each other to the next winery.
“What’s taking you so long?” Kassidy asked, resting with one foot on the ground and her hip balanced on the bike’s seat. “Are you trying to find one that matches your outfit?”
Paige shook her head and finally wheeled a bike onto the path. “I wanted to get the one with the most dents and scratches because I have a feeling it’ll be spending most of its time on the ground. Dante drags me when I’m on my feet. Just imagine what he’ll do when I’m on wheels and easier to pull.”
She came close to Kassidy, fiddling with Dante’s leash and straddling the bike without actually getting on it.
“You’re stalling,” Kassidy said.
Paige grinned. “Maybe I’m just letting the twins get farther ahead so I can be alone with you.”
“I’d be more inclined to believe that if you weren’t trembling with fear.”
Paige held her hand out in front of her. “Steady as can be,” she said, reaching over to put her hand on top of Kassidy’s, linking their fingers together. “I was kidding about being nervous. A ride like this is easy for a dog as well trained as Dante.”
Kassidy felt a rush of warmth spread from the point where she had contact with Paige’s skin until even the air between them felt heated. She wasn’t fooled by Paige’s confident tone, and she figured the hand-holding gesture was another way to avoid getting on the bike and careening down the path behind Dante. Still, she let herself enjoy touching Paige. Even more, she reveled in the signs that Paige wasn’t unaffected by their closeness. Like the way she bit her bottom lip and glanced at Kassidy’s mouth. And the way she leaned a little closer until Kassidy was certain they were about to kiss—
“Come on, you two,” Kyle yelled from the entrance to the bike path. “We already made it up that hill and back.”
Paige startled away from Kassidy again, tripping over the bike as it dropped beneath her and onto its side. Dante barked, adding his voice to Kyle’s rallying cry and straining at his leash.
Damn. Paige wound the leash around her wrist and resolutely picked up the bike. Kassidy had been correct about her stalling, but as soon as she had felt Kassidy’s fingers wrap around hers, the scenery around them had seemed to fade out of focus as if someone had thrown a bucket of water on a painting. Colors blended, sounds muted, until Kassidy was the only point of focus in the world. For too brief a moment.
“I’m guessing you didn’t do much dating when you were younger, with the two of them underfoot,” Paige joked, belatedly realizing how insensitive her words sounded. “Hey, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t tease about that, since you did so much to take care of them.”
Kassidy reached over and stroked Paige’s arm. “Don’t be sorry because you’re right. They were more effective than a chastity belt.” Kassidy grinned, putting Paige at ease. “I tried to date a few times in high school, when they were old enough to stay home without me, but they always managed to find out where I had gone. They’d show up and ask my dates the most humiliating questions. Even when I started going out in college, I was always looking over my shoulder bec
ause I half expected them to appear at any time.”
Paige still felt the aftershocks of Kassidy’s touch on her arm, even though she had already moved away. Maybe it was a good thing the twins had shown up last night and stayed until today. Paige was annoyed at their intrusions, but once she was back in Portland, alone in her city life and apartment, she’d probably be thankful they had been around to keep her and Kassidy in check. Missed opportunities were romantic fantasies, while broken hearts were painful realities.
“We should start riding,” Kassidy said, and Paige thought she heard a note of regret in her voice. “They’ll be back any minute if we don’t catch up.”
“So I have to choose between a humiliating interrogation about my intentions toward you, or the likelihood that I’ll face-plant along the trail?” Paige asked.
“Exactly. The second option would be much less painful.”
“Says the person who isn’t leading Dante,” Paige muttered, slowly starting to pedal down the path. “Come on, boy. It’s just like heeling, but I’m on wheels.”
“Does he know how to heel?” Kassidy asked with a note of disbelief in her voice.
“He’s heard the word before, but he hasn’t quite grasped the concept yet. We’re a work in progress,” Paige said as she wove tentatively down the tidy gravel path while Kassidy rode slowly alongside her, calling out encouragement to Dante and swerving every once in a while to keep from being hit by Paige. Most of Paige’s attention was devoted to remaining upright—how in the hell was she supposed to do this after having some wine?—but every brain cell she had to spare was still focused on Kassidy. How she had leaned slightly toward Paige when their hands touched. How little effort it would have taken to move forward and kiss her.
All she seemed to have with Kassidy were these isolated moments. The ones that fell in between interruptions by other people or discussions about the farm or revelations about their family lives. Moments that seemed uncomplicated and pure, amidst the complexity of their working relationship. Paige’s logical side—the part of her that realized how she would feel if she got too close to Kassidy and then had to leave—knew she shouldn’t be encouraging these brief brushes with intimacy. Still, her irrational side didn’t have the desire or willpower to give them up, and Kassidy didn’t seem inclined to, either.